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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

It was one of those pre-Christmas Dinner, San Pasquale moments that had me thinking, Hmmm, I wonder if Round Table Pizza is going to be open? I was right in the middle of making up a big pot of Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and praying to San Pasquale, the patron saint of cooking, when I spied that the recipe said to take a cup of oil and a cup of all-purpose flour and stir them together over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 20 minutes, until the flour roux browned to the color of milk chocolate.

A CUP of oil?WTF???

As the cauldron-like wok full of dangerously hot oil boiled away furiously, filling the house with the weird smell of browning flour, that’s when I thought about Round Table Pizza.I mean a whole cup of oil?Really??

But the whole thing came together, one guest came with a big pile of hush-puppies, another with a sweet potato/pecan pie and everyone started humming “Jambalaya Jingle Bells.”

When I planned the Christmas Dinner menu, I got curious about Gumbo.I hadn’t made any for over thirty years.So, I hit Wikipedia and came to find out that gumbo is a stew or soupish stew that came from southern Louisiana during the 18th century.It’s basically a stock of some type, a thickener, and “the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers and onions.”The thickener is either the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé, which is ground from the leaves of the sassafras tree leaves, or roux, the French base made of browned flour and fat.Or all three.The name comes from either the Bantu word for okra (Ki ngombo) or the Choctaw word for filé (kombo.)

But the one key thing bout Gumbo is that there are as many recipes as there are people making it.Some use okra, some filé, some both, some use meat and/or shellfish.Some call for tomatoes, others, not. There’s even a Lenten version made with no meat but with every kind of green you can think of.

If you’d like to try the recipe, which is perfect for a cold winter’s evening, here it is, with modifications.In future, I’m going to brown up a whole bunch of flour in the heavy wok before hand and open all the doors and windows and set a fan going.Then I can keep the browned flour on hand in a sealed container, maybe even toss it in the freezer, for any roux making in future.I’ve also cut the amount down to ½ cup each since I don’t use a lot of oil in cooking.You can adjust accordingly. Filé powder can be found in the spice section of the market.Okra, frozen or fresh will work.I used boned chicken thighs and a wonderful semi-spicy chicken sausage I found at Costco. (Hilshire Farms kielbasa & etc. will work just fine too) The recipe is from Bon Appetite.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, and sear chicken until golden brown. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Transfer to a plate, Add sausage to pot, cook until browned, add to chicken.

Strain drippings from pot to measuring cup, add whatever more oil to make ½ c.Re-heat drippings/ oil over medium heat.Whisk in flour and whisk continuously for about 20 minutes until the roux is the color of milk chocolate. (or, if you’ve browned the flower before hand, whisk with equal amounts of butter or oil until well mixed) Add onions.Cook until soft.Stir in scallions, celery, peppers, garlic.Cook until soft.

Slowly whisk in the broth.Add bay leaf, thyme, (and any other spices you want to toss in), add reserved chicken and sausage.Bring to a boil.Reduce heat to low and simmer about 45 minutes.

Add 1 cup okra, Worcestershire, hot sauce.Simmer another 30 min.Add remaining okra and cook about 5 more minutes, until last batch of okra is crisp-tender.

Remove from heat, add filé powder.(Don’t ever boil file powder as it will get bitter and stringy, which is why you add it at the last minute.)

Serve over rice, with cornbread and a salad.And enjoy.

Christmas Gumbo

It was one of those pre-Christmas Dinner, San Pasquale moments that had me thinking, Hmmm, I wonder if Round Table Pizza is going to be open? I was right in the middle of making up a big pot of Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and praying to San Pasquale, the patron saint of cooking, when I spied that the recipe said to take a cup of oil and a cup of all-purpose flour and stir them together over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 20 minutes, until the flour roux browned to the color of milk chocolate.

A CUP of oil?WTF???

As the cauldron-like wok full of dangerously hot oil boiled away furiously, filling the house with the weird smell of browning flour, that’s when I thought about Round Table Pizza.I mean a whole cup of oil?Really??

But the whole thing came together, one guest came with a big pile of hush-puppies, another with a sweet potato/pecan pie and everyone started humming “Jambalaya Jingle Bells.”

When I planned the Christmas Dinner menu, I got curious about Gumbo.I hadn’t made any for over thirty years.So, I hit Wikipedia and came to find out that gumbo is a stew or soupish stew that came from southern Louisiana during the 18th century.It’s basically a stock of some type, a thickener, and “the vegetable holy trinity of celery, bell peppers and onions.”The thickener is either the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé, which is ground from the leaves of the sassafras tree leaves, or roux, the French base made of browned flour and fat.Or all three.The name comes from either the Bantu word for okra (Ki ngombo) or the Choctaw word for filé (kombo.)

But the one key thing bout Gumbo is that there are as many recipes as there are people making it.Some use okra, some filé, some both, some use meat and/or shellfish.Some call for tomatoes, others, not. There’s even a Lenten version made with no meat but with every kind of green you can think of.

If you’d like to try the recipe, which is perfect for a cold winter’s evening, here it is, with modifications.In future, I’m going to brown up a whole bunch of flour in the heavy wok before hand and open all the doors and windows and set a fan going.Then I can keep the browned flour on hand in a sealed container, maybe even toss it in the freezer, for any roux making in future.I’ve also cut the amount down to ½ cup each since I don’t use a lot of oil in cooking.You can adjust accordingly. Filé powder can be found in the spice section of the market.Okra, frozen or fresh will work.I used boned chicken thighs and a wonderful semi-spicy chicken sausage I found at Costco. (Hilshire Farms kielbasa & etc. will work just fine too) The recipe is from Bon Appetite.

Season chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, and sear chicken until golden brown. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Transfer to a plate, Add sausage to pot, cook until browned, add to chicken.

Strain drippings from pot to measuring cup, add whatever more oil to make ½ c.Re-heat drippings/ oil over medium heat.Whisk in flour and whisk continuously for about 20 minutes until the roux is the color of milk chocolate. (or, if you’ve browned the flower before hand, whisk with equal amounts of butter or oil until well mixed) Add onions.Cook until soft.Stir in scallions, celery, peppers, garlic.Cook until soft.

Slowly whisk in the broth.Add bay leaf, thyme, (and any other spices you want to toss in), add reserved chicken and sausage.Bring to a boil.Reduce heat to low and simmer about 45 minutes.

Add 1 cup okra, Worcestershire, hot sauce.Simmer another 30 min.Add remaining okra and cook about 5 more minutes, until last batch of okra is crisp-tender.

Remove from heat, add filé powder.(Don’t ever boil file powder as it will get bitter and stringy, which is why you add it at the last minute.)

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Calhouns Can(n)ons

About the Can(n)ons

Calhoun's Can(n)ons was originally published in 1990 in the (now defunct) Morro Bay, CA, Sun Bulletin, and since 1992 has continued in the various resurrections of the Los Osos, CA. Bay News, Bay Breeze, Bay News, Bay News-Tolosa Press. A few years ago, the Can(n)on was added to the Central Coast NewsMission blogsite. Ann Calhoun lives in Los Osos. You can email her at Churadogs at gmail dot com

To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful. Edward R. Murrow

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No one is exempt from talking nonsense; the misfortune is to do it solemnly. Montaigne